Down from the mountain pt 1

My name is Kory, me and my friend Mike have been holed up between Mt. Bierstadt & Mt. Evans for the last 3 months. We were on a 2 day backpacking trip, the plan was to hike from gurnella pass to the base of Mt Bierstadt then summit Bierstadt the next day and take the sawtooth across to Mt. Evans where our pickup vehicle was supposed to be. Needless to say best laid plans don't always play out the way you expect them to. We were only prepared for 2 days but lucky for us we always pack a little heavy especially in Colorado's back country.

We kept a journal on the summit log, didn't figure anyone else would be needing it after what we saw coming down from the second summit. The morning started out fairly normal, up at 5am waiting on Mike to pick me up. My gear stacked hastily by the front door as I go over everything I think I might need, we brought the basics save for the rifle and cameras. Food for 2 days, camelbacks full with extra water bottles just in case, single person tents, sleeping bags and enough cold weather clothes for the first day, second day and 2 extra sets just in case it decides to rain on us all day. Colorado's weather can change about every half hour so its best to have a lot of socks & a poncho especially in the mountains. I was trying to catch the weather report before Mike arrived but the only thing on the news was the updates about the "Champion virus" and the cures that were currently availble. I set my phone to update me to Georgetowns weather center. Then headlights slowly creep into my driveway, I grab a little breakfast to eat on the way and gather up my gear.

Mikes little truck has about three hundred thousand miles on it but we rebuilt the motor about three months ago so its running strong, the rest of it is falling apart but at least it can get us down most of the trails in the parks. A two wheel drive truck isn't the best when the weather turns bad on a dirt road but if you know how to drive it you'll get stuck less often than the guy with the big 4x4. My gear is in the back & we're on our way. Highway to smaller highway then 60 miles straight west, we were heading to the side of gurnella pass that wasn't closed due to the mudslides brought on by construction. We got to the pass a little after 7am, road was tore up from all the construction equipment trying to clear up the damage caused by the mudslides. At 7:30am we got the trail head, one other car in the parking lot. Also in the lot were restrooms & 2 handicap parking spots, hope they weren't planning on taking a wheelchair on the trail we had planned. 10.4 miles the first day, then we camp on the other side of the willows at apx 12,000 ft. After the willows the incline increases and the last 600ft is almost rock climbing.

We geared up and got on our way, 10 miles doesn't sound like a lot but there is also 4000 ft of elevation changes. When you first move to Colorado, you get altitude sickness for the first week or two. After your body adapts you can do normal activities but anything extraneous will cause shortness of breath, dizziness & feinting. We've been on several of these trips before so we were not affected by the altitude as much but you really have to be careful when you stay above 10,000 ft for prolonged periods of time.

About mid day it starts to snow on us, we should have probablly planed the trip a little sooner than November but that was the only time we could both take off. Family events, thanksgiving at the end of the month, I was house sitting my parents house for the middle 2 weeks so they could go on their cruise so this was it. We were around 11,000 ft, right at the timberline and a perfect place to hunt marmots, not a lot of meat on them but disease free & they really don't taste that bad. After lunch we could see the snow covered willows, for years there was no path through them. Fortunately the parks services built boardwalks across them, as it turns out the walks are a little slicker than the ice below them.

After the second set of walks Mike stops in his tracks, there was something very large moving in front of us. I grab the gun & Mike grabs the camera, I look at him with a smirk and say "I can take a picture of it when its dead, its mating season for the elk and they will charge anything if you get close to the females." Mike nods aknowledging the fact that we might be in a little trouble and I decide it would be best to scare it off. So I fire a shot in the air & a Moose with a rack the size of me & Mike stands up from the willows. He doesn't pay much more attention to us, rather turns tail and runs to the small pond in the valley of the willows. Looking at the pond there is a female already bathing in the half that isn't frozen over. We look at each other, gather our bearings and continue down the willow trail. We got to the base camp and settled in for the night. We built a fire to help us thaw out, we averaged a balmy 30 degrees all day. Little did we know what we were in store for the next day.